Lack of adequate funding is chasing away Almajiri pupils from the Tsangaya Model Schools established by the President Goodluck Jonathan administrations across some northern states. The schools were conceived to tackle the menace of begging by young children in the streets, in the name of Islamic education.
The schools, built with modern facilities obtainable in conventional schools, were designed as boarding schools for the Almajirai, usually under-aged boy. They were built and handed over to the teachers of Tsangaya schools, to serve as proprietors. In the initial arrangement, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) would handle feeding, stationeries, posting and payment of teachers.
In Gombe, there are five schools spread in five local government areas of Funakaye, Gombe, Kwami, Nafada and Yamaltu Deba, with a collective population of 1,535 pupils.
Daily Trust visited one of the schools in Malam Inna Quarters of Gombe metropolis, named Madarasatul Darul Huda Tsangaya Model School II. Established in 2013, it is one of the ones that are still operational in the state. It has 2 blocks of classrooms, 2 hostel blocks, 2 staff rooms, a headmaster’s office, kitchen and dining hall.
It was commissioned and handed over to Late Malam Muhammadu Basakwkwace, who runs a traditional Tsangaya school in the metropolis. Some of the pioneer pupils are Almajirai from his school. Each of them is provided with a uniform and three square meals.
Daily Trust gathered that initially, the school had recorded some success, as most of the pupils had memorized 30 chapters of the Qur’an under three years, which was not possible at the Tsangaya schools, where the children spent most of the time looking for food.
Malam Danlami Muhammadu Basakwkwace, who took over the school after the demise of his father in 2014, said the school started with only 28 Almajirai pupils mostly from his Tsangaya who were then enrolled in Primary 1. He said the pupil’s are now 428. He added out of them, 18 are boarding students, while 150 are non-Almajiri pupils enrolled into the school by their parents.
“The school has 18 teachers, and nine are teaching Qur’anic and Islamic education, while nine are teaching Western education,” he said.
The school’s calendar is similar to what is obtainable in other conventional schools owned by the state government, though two hours are dedicated to teaching Qur’an and Islamic studies.
To generate additional income, female pupils are allowed, sponsored by their parents, in addition to an Islamiyya school for children in the neighbourhood during evening hours.
But three years after the schools were commissioned, some of them are on the verge of collapsing. Investigations further revealed that the school is now financed 100 per cent by the proprietor.
One of the teachers said apart from stationeries provided by the government at the beginning, the school has not received any assistance from government. Apart from inadequacy of materials, the issue of inadequate teachers is another problem. Another is that of feeding. This has seen students returning to the streets to beg, the very issue the school was established to eradicate.
As feeding the Almajirai three square meals became a problem, parents were asked to provide money for feeding, causing those who cannot meet up to withdraw their wards. The hostel block and classrooms are also becoming inadequate for the pupils, whose age bracket is between 5-12 years. The initial 2 blocks of classrooms meant for 50 students, now accommodates 428 students, with some of them taking classes under a tree.
When Daily Trust contacted the SUBEB, the Desk Officer for Almajiri Education, Hajiya Aishatu Sambo, said the board is aware of the challenges since the Tsangaya schools were handed over to them by the federal government. “We have Tsangaya Schools in the state, out of them only the one in Kwami is not functioning as a boarding school. It was so because the construction work is poorly done, especially the hostel block. As such, the school was converted to a day school for the meantime pending the renovation of the dilapidated structure.”
“The issue of funding is one of the challenges they are facing, but the state government has captured that in the 2017 budget and it has already been passed by the state House of Assembly. As for teachers, we have sent two from the board and hopefully we will get additional ones from the N-Power programme,” she explained.
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